Rummanah Aasi

Description: Unchained from fate, the Norse gods Loki and Hel are ready to unleash Ragnarok, a.k.a. the Apocalypse, upon the earth. They’ve made allies on the darker side of many pantheons, and there’s a globe-spanning battle brewing that ancient Druid Atticus O’Sullivan will be hard-pressed to survive, much less win.
   Granuaile MacTiernan must join immortals Sun Wukong and Erlang Shen in a fight against the Yama Kings in Taiwan, but she discovers that the stakes are much higher than she thought. Meanwhile, Archdruid Owen Kennedy must put out both literal and metaphorical fires from Bavaria to Peru to keep the world safe for his apprentices and the future of Druidry. And Atticus recruits the aid of a tyromancer, an Indian witch, and a trickster god in hopes that they’ll give him just enough leverage to both save Gaia and see another sunrise. There is a hound named Oberon who deserves a snack, after all.

Review: Scourged is a very fitting series finale to the Iron Druid Chronicles. For eight books in this series we have watched Atticus dodge danger, widen his network of friends and enemies, and survived for centuries. The last few books, however, made me very frustrated with Atticus because his tunnel vision and stubbornness had essentially lead to the Apocalypse. It's not until he is standing at the very edge of the cliff does he realize all of his biggest mistakes. This character arc is a testament to Hearne's writing and makes Atticus a flawed hero who despite his mistakes still makes you want to root for him.
  Scourged is essentially Atticus's wake-up call. He has to correct his mistakes and form unlikely alliances all to preserve the world as we know it. His relationship with Granuaile was slowly fracturing in the last few books as she continued to disapprove Atticus's actions, but now it might be irreparably broken. I loved that Granualie has graduated from a secondary character to now a main character and especially in this book calls Atticus out on his mistakes.
  In Scourged we see a lot of favorite characters from the past books make a presence. The battle scenes were cinematic and well written. It felt as if I was witnessing it right before my eyes. There were difficult casualties to endure, but it had to be done with this epic war. Hearne does a nice job in balancing the lighter moments with humor without losing the serious and darker notes as we get closer to the big conflict. The ending was fitting though the door has been left open for new adventures. As I learned from Hearne's newsletter an Iron Druid Chronicles series is in the works and I'm definitely going to read it.
   
Rating: 4 stars

Words of Caution: There is strong language and violence in the book. Recommended for Adults and mature teens only.

If you like this book try: Dresden Files by Jim Butcher, The Age of Misrule by Mark Chadbourn
4 Responses
  1. I enjoyed this and thought for the most part it was a great ending. I was disappointed in the way Atticus behaved the last couple fo books. I am happy to hear there will be more!


  2. Jen Twimom Says:

    Great review, Rum! This book was the story it needed to be, although not the one I necessarily wanted it to be. Looking forward to new adventures!


  3. You asked about whether you should purchase any other of the many books with collected essays on a topic and the answer is, I don't know. I like reading essays and short stories, but never found many students that liked that type of book. The book Resist is about people who resisted and made a difference because of their action. BRAZEN is about truly remarkable women who contributed to the world. It is a graphic collected biography. I liked it A LOT and the format is so friendly. HOPE NATION and WE RISE, WE RESIST, AND WE RAISE OUR VOICES are designed to give the reader a positive perspective about the future. I liked them both a lot. Hope nation is probably more high school and We Rise is probably more middle school level. I have read one, LIFE INSIDE MY MIND, about mental illness and authors sharing their own stories. It was very good but I got a little disinterested about the fifteenth or so story. I have another one on a similar topic, (DON'T) CALL ME CRAZY, sitting here but I haven't read it yet. Another two books are also waiting their turn: NEVERTHELESS WE PERSISTED and WE SAY #NEVER AGAIN: REPORTING BY PARKLAND STUDENT JOURNALISTS. I guess if I were you, I'd buy one of the mental health collections, one of the hopeful/resist collections, and one of the personal profiles collections (RESIST is an example). Watch for my reviews the next few weeks. I am reading all these books as a Cybils judge so I will get to them eventually and will review them. Egads. A lot of work. Good luck with your decision.


  4. Kindlemom Says:

    This really is a fun series and I'm so glad you are loving it! I really need to get caught up, I've only read the first couple of books and novellas.


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